Tag: sign language

Learn German From Scratch

It’s kind of weird. I will actually be trying to learn German from scratch again. I decided to take part in an intensive German sign language course for four weeks from June, 13th until July, 8th. For three hours a day I will go through the experience of an absolute beginner of German and explore my emotions, thoughts and the way it is being taught to me. Without any prior knowledge I expect to feel afraid, frustrated and angry but also joyful and curious. Whatever comes up, I will share it with you in the playlist above (click in the upper left corner or the info sign on the right to get to that playlist).

Putting Myself in Other’s Shoes – Sich in Andere Hineinversetzen

I think that a good language tutor needs to know how his clients feel and think to be able to guide them through difficult phases during their German learning process. Last year I studied Greek for 30 days and gained invaluable insight in the language learning and teaching process which helped me to optimize my German private lessons and my material (a new video course which will teach you most of these insights is already in production). I am very excited about what I am about to experience and learn from this project. Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel above not to miss any of the upcoming videos or future projects.

How Gestures can Enhance your German Learning

This is exactly what I would like to find out. A gesture can be seen as a three dimensional word. It takes place in a certain physical space and it has a direction. It therefore might stimulate one’s brain in different ways than other languages based solely on sound. There is a professor A.D. Ludger Schiffler, who has been promoting the use of supportive gestures in foreign language learning for many years now (get his book here). But my problem with his approach is that if you take a look at his videos that he presents at his public speeches (e.g. at the Expolingua in Berlin) his clients do not seem to enjoy those gestures too much. They leave the impression as if they felt silly performing them. I know that feeling from my foreign language tuition in the past. I had to play inefficient and silly games, participate in artificial role plays or sing songs, that made my brain want to jump out of my skull, run to the next river and drown itself.

Adults need to be treated like adults. If they are exposed to material like this (NSFB-Not safe for brain), they could suffer severe motivational damage. Be assured that IF I find a way to integrate gestures into the German learning process it will be in a way that respects Article 1 of the German constitution (Grundgesetz): Human dignity is unviolable.

Let me know what you think of this project and I hope to inspire you to pursue efficient lifelong learning.